Panart - Royal Caroline by Bazza

PreambleRoyal Caroline first caught my eye when I bought Chapman’s Architectura Navalis Mercatoria way back in the 70’s.I also bought the Anatomy of a ship Royal Caroline not long afterI looked at the kit when Mantua first brought it out way back, but could not justify its purchase then.My heart had always been set on getting the Dutch Whaler first. I still don’t have it.

Since returning to NZ on a temporary basis to look after dad, I decided to find something to keep my idle hands busy. Having left my partially completed Bissie and all my implements of destruction back in Aussie, I wanted something to stick my teeth into with basic tools and where detail of the hull would give me a challenge.

Given a lack of tools, a scratchbuild was out the question, so I opted for a kit.

Also, I may need to transport it partially built, back to Oz in the not too distant future. I have already found a polystyrene box that will hold the hull.

I spent a month pawing over all my preferences. My first thought was to pick one of the Euromodels, La Renommee, Falmouth or Ajax as they are held in high praise by many, and they are currently at 20% discount also. After looking at photos of the cast bits, especially the gallery windows, I was not impressed, and finally opted for the Caroline.

I had the kit in my hand 4 days after I purchased it online from England. Customs here in NZ stung me a pretty penny in duty, but I still was very pleased with the end price all up.

I cannot say for sure, but I think the kit has gone through a bit of change since it was first introduced including the inclusion of laser cut parts.

If you are expecting step by step instructions, forget it, kits of this complexity expect the builder to have more than a basic level of construction skill and the ability to read a crystal ball.Construction notes are short and basic.

Now I know all kits are a compromise, and in the end, what you see is what you get, but there is always room for some improvements to enhance the look of the final build.But keep in mind, any changes to the kit construction usually has a flow on sometimes to your detriment that may impact and require further part modifications down the track. Try to anticipate these and check that you are not going to cause major unforeseen mods.

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

Firstly – my workbench. It is in the garage in the dark beneath the house. The tools date back to the 1950’s including my ancient and still sharp lino print carving tools. This photo says it all !

I did splurge out and buy myself a good quality Stanley snap off knife.I found some good quality wood glue around the house, but the sandpaper is woeful. A trip is required for some no fill good quality sandpaper of at least 3 various grades.

For reasons below, I have spent many hours on the very first part of the construction and I will include a plethora of photos and notes for those who wish to do this mod in the future.

I do expect the rest of the frame construction to be routine and a breeze.In the case of the Royal Caroline, once I opened the box, started looking at pictures and inspecting instructions, I almost fell off my chair. How could such a magnificent vessel have a bland flat stern ?The original ship was a work of art, not only from its decorations, but in design also.All reference plans confirmed the stern was rounded, so my very first piece of construction involved a delicate modification to the kit.Before I actually started doing any construction, I had a lightbulb moment. I would soak the 3 ply stern in water (no ammonia handy) until I got a sunny day.Yes, I did try to dry bend it first. Fail3 days later the sun came out. The 3 ply had not released or come apart (5 points, it must be marine ply). So the section spent all day in the sun. The top side drying faster than the underside, with the plan of it warping into a curve for me. Fail no 2.I did slightly fracture the centre section attempting the bend, such is life !

On to plan B – the semi destruction of the stern section with my dad’s highly technical metal saw (hacksaw).

I made 3 cuts almost fully through.

I then proceeded to test bend, breaking one piece in the process, but I was not too concerned. Aquadhere has great gluing qualities.

I then removed all other parts required complete initial construction and test fitted. As expected, the laser cut parts fitted snugly and accurately. Almost no slop,

This did cause a problem with the curved the stern panel, so I marked and chamfered the outer locating lugs.I bent and glued my stern into shape using my eye for accuracy ….. I know, shoot me. My philosophy, if you can deceive the eye, it must be pretty accurate. I then test fitted as best I could and slopped on the glue.With the obvious non correct fittings because of the mod, I was very pleased with the result.

First challenge successfully overcome

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

I have taken some time to study the plans and then read through some of the instructions,The kit provides thick clear plastic for all windows , fantastic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But maybe too thick when it comes to attaching the laser cut wooden window sheet. I will cross that bridge later.It then says to paint the back of the plastic grey/blue to simulate reflected light. NO WAY !There must be another way.Because of the models construction, there is no way I can create the stern cabin, but there must be a way I can do something, I will figure that out later.First, I removed the laser cut stern windows, tested the location on the stern. I then drew the windows on the stern galley - oversize.

I cut holes in the stern where the windows are and checked that they were about right.

Then I went about sanding the stern galley to make it rounded and smooth.Also note I sanded the 4 galley supports so as they fit smoothly into the actual stern of the hull.

Next. keel and frames. that should be straight forward.

Baz

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

"I do expect the rest of the frame construction to be routine and a breeze."

Not ! ....... ... yet !OK .... it looks like they confirm even the stern is double planked. I can live with that. Thank goodness, Otherwise I was going to be in all sorts of bother hiding the first layer of hull planking behind the stern planking.I hope all understand my illogical train of thought here.Sadly, I do not have the software here to diagrammatically explain this.

Baz

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

The keel and frames have been dry tested.The poop deck (part 21) is a tight fit, but the frames need to be loose so it will slot into place

The stern curve of the poop deck needed some attention to fit the now curved stern.

To complicate matters even more, part 16 traverses 75% or the length of the ship and is overlapped by part 17 that lays underneath the poop deck.So, in light of all this, I will glue all parts after they have been fitted.

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

I have now glued the basic framework together mostly as per instructions using 1 water 1 glue ratio and a paintbrush.I had to resort to the trusty clothes peg to glue all the decking parts, but no other tools

Only frame 3 needed to be pushed upwards to seat against part 16, all others fitted well

I did leave one part out, part 1b.I did this because I thought the curve for the camber in the decking was too extreme.

This in turn has the effect of making the decking sit outside either side of frame 1I will sand this later, with the frames, prior to planking

One other problem I came across that needs attention.Part 23 (x2) are too long and will need cut to correct length before gluing

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

It has been a few weeksI have made some progressThere were a few more basic things I needed to do before starting the hull planking proper.Added the bits to to the bow section. On fig 3 of the plan 2x each of parts 15 and 23.Parts 23 were cut to the correct size (give or take)

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

It has been quite some time since I last posted here.I have not been idle.As I want to try and have my kit looking reasonably close the the original vessel, I have been plotting and planning a method of attack.So after studying the plans and also the anatomy of a ship, I have begun the planking.

The main deckhouse, a feature of this ship was my first concern.The deckhouse would not have been incorporated as part of the hull construction, but added later.I will treat as such.

I immediately disregarded the recommended sequence of planking and devised an alternative to method

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

Next, it was time to lay the first full length plank from bow to stern.This is identified as plank 1 in the kit plan.For me it was plank number 4

Before I started, I used the laser cut bow piece no 24 as a guide for the plank curvature.I did not glue in place at this stage, but I did give it decking.

forming the bow shape on the port side caused me some problems

The starboard side went much better

At this stage, I had only partly completed the first planking.

I glued part 24 in place and added 1 second plank either side

I would like to emphasize here the importance of ensuring the first planking is correctly aligned and all blemishes/imperfections are removed. I actually take more time and care preparing the first planking than the second.First planking sets up how your hull will finally look. It can make or break the overall appearance.

Last edited by Bazza on Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Before you do it your own way, read the instructions. Sometimes they get it right !

Lovely work Bazza. I'll second your point about getting the first planking right before you do the second planking. It pays to take time to fair the frames accurately as well. It all makes the subsequent steps much easier and gets a better end result.